Can Port Arthur's Titans unite TJ, Lincoln fans as one?

Avi Zaleo, Beaumont Enterprise

By Avi Zaleon

Updated 9:52 am, Wednesday, May 28, 2014

From left, James Knowles a former Thomas Jefferson High School coach and Reginald 'Bump' Ned a former Lincoln High School coach hold relics of their respective pasts at Memorial High School on Thursday.
Photo taken Thursday, May 22, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Jeanette Mitchell reacts to a play durning the JV basketball game between TJ and Ozen Tuesday. A big fan of the game, Mitchell played in high school and now her little brother plays on the JV team and her son plays on the varsity team.
Photo/jennifer Reynolds

Jeanette Mitchell reacts to a play durning the JV basketball game...

In what looks like a PN-G fumble by on the first play of the game Saturday night, Lincoln's #55 keeps his eyes on the ball and comes up with it. Officials did not rule it a fumble and PN-G got the ball back.
Photo/Jennifer Reynolds

In what looks like a PN-G fumble by on the first play of the game...

Lincoln High School quarterback Calvin Roberts watches the defense practice Wednesday afternoon as the team prepares for their game against TJ Friday night.
Photo/Jennifer Reynolds

Lincoln High School defender Kenneth Thorns (33) wraps up Nederland...

Lincoln High School running back Nathaniel Berry (10), right, juggles a hand-off before regaining control and being brought down by Silsbee defensive back Alex Shelton (2) for a loss of yaardage Friday night at Tiger Stadium in Silsbee.
PHOTO/SCOTT ESLINGER November 16, 2001
Photo: Scott Eslinger, Staff Photographer

LC-M's John Mertz goes up against a TJ player for the rebound Friday during the championship game in Nederland.
Photo/Jennifer Reynolds

LC-M's John Mertz goes up against a TJ player for the rebound...

From right, James Knowles a former Thomas Jefferson High School coach and Reginald 'Bump' Ned a former Lincoln High School coach hold relics of their respective pasts at Memorial High School on Thursday.
Photo taken Thursday, May 22, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

From right, James Knowles a former Thomas Jefferson High School...

From right, James Knowles a former Thomas Jefferson High School coach and Reginald 'Bump' Ned a former Lincoln High School coach hold relics of their respective pasts at Memorial High School on Thursday.
Photo taken Thursday, May 22, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

At first, Reginald "Bump" Ned is hesitant to belt out his favorite Lincoln High cheer.

"Is the gang all here?

"Yeah, man."

He starts low, feeling a little uncomfortable recalling this part of his past.

But as the words begin to flow, Ned recaptures something - a spirit, perhaps - and his voice grows louder.

"Whatcha gonna do?

"We're gonna yell, man.

"You're gonna yell for who?

"The Bumblebees."

A smile curls up under his salt-and-pepper mustache. He raises his arms in triumph.

"Well, loosen up your collarbone - let's go.

"A-he-he-hi-hi. Let's go!"

Ned is living in the time of Port Arthur Memorial, but he grew up with Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Stephen F. Austin. He, like most of the Port Arthur community, is trying to find a balance between a passion for the past and an embrace of the present.

"Nah," the customer says on his way out. "Too much tradition from before."

The teeth of Robertson's razor eat through the hair of a boy seated in an old, sky-blue barbershop chair.

Robertson, a 1986 Thomas Jefferson grad, has his finger on the pulse of the local sports scene.

"We need the tradition back," he said. "It's going to take time, but it'll come back. Every year, more and more people are buying Memorial stuff."

Resentments from the forced union of 2002 are still easing.

Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Stephen F. Austin weren't just buildings that housed desks and books - each campus was a way of life.

"That's one thing that the community on the West Side of Port Arthur identified with," Ned said. "When you said 'Port Arthur' in the '80s, it was Lincoln basketball. When you said 'Port Arthur' in the '70s, it was Joe Washington and Lincoln football. Those were things we could count on."

Pride was everywhere and within everyone.

"People would paint their cars purple and gold," said Memorial assistant coach Cornelius Harmon, who began high school at Thomas Jefferson and graduated from Memorial in 2004. "Everywhere you went in Port Arthur, people had a Lincoln Bumblebees sign on their houses and it was the same thing with TJ.

"There's so much of a rich tradition because not only did you go to one of these schools, but your parents did and their parents did, too. It was a known fact that if you went to Lincoln, your grandkids would go to Lincoln."

Pride showed itself in attendance at not only football games, but at midweek practices. Pride was the massive bands and pep rallies. It was the "Beehive," where opposing basketball teams faced not only James Gamble's Bumblebees, but a raucous sellout crowd.

"People would plan their vacation around the state championship (in basketball)," Ned said. "They'd call Coach Gamble and ask when the Bees were going to State. Not if … when."